Name: Why has the UAE escaped scrutiny over their role in Sudan?
Uploaded: 2025-11-25T15:09:41.645Z
Duration: 3 min 47 s
Description: The United Arab Emirates play a crucial role in the bloody civil war that has been raging in Sudan. Mounting evidence shows that the UAE is arming the paramilitary RSF. But why does the West remain silent?

The United Arab Emirates play a crucial role in the bloody civil war that has been raging in Sudan. Mounting evidence shows that the UAE is arming the paramilitary RSF. But why does the West remain silent?

Evidence has emerged indicating that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is supplying weapons to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group accused of serious human rights abuses. The UAE denies these allegations, despite documentation from the United Nations and rights organizations. Western governments, particularly in Europe and the United States, have not publicly criticized the UAE, a stance analysts attribute to the country's substantial investments and economic ties with these nations.

The UAE is a major investor in Western industries, real estate, and energy, and is also a significant buyer of Western arms, with large-scale deals involving the U.S. and France. The country's strategic importance in energy and regional security, including its designation as a major U.S. defense partner and its hosting of key military facilities, further complicates efforts to address its alleged role in the Sudan conflict. These close economic and security relationships make it challenging for Western allies to press the UAE on its actions in Sudan.

Why has the UAE escaped scrutiny over their role in Sudan?

There's growing evidence in Sudan that the United Arab Emirates is supplying weapons to the RSF, a paramilitary that has allegedly executed and tortured thousands of civilians. The UAE denies that it arms the RSF, despite compelling evidence provided by the United Nations and rights groups. Why have the UAE's allies in Europe and the U.S. been silent for so long? Analysts say financial interests play a role. The UAE is seen, unfortunately, as an ATM by most European governments who want tens of billions, if not more, worth of investments into their country. Whether it's a new AI center in France, an investment deal with Italy, or football clubs in the U.K., the UAE has proven to be a big spender. It's also pumping billions of dollars into U.S. industries and real estate. They invested over two billion dollars in a cryptocurrency exchange that is owned by the Trump family, the Trump Corporation. They've actually committed to investing over a trillion dollars in the U.S. economy over the next 10 years, which is a staggering number. Then there's the profit coming from arms sales. Washington sells a great deal of weapons and other advanced weapon systems to the UAE. Major arms deals were already being made during the Biden administration, and Trump has further approved a $1.6 billion sale to the UAE earlier this year. A lot of the UAE's weapons also come from Europe. The UAE is a very big spender, particularly in France. A deal signed in 2021 where the UAE ordered 80 fighter jets from France was France's largest ever weapons contract for export. The money that they invest, which are tens of billions of dollars, is a very, very important influx of investment in this part of European industry and secures jobs. Investigations by journalists and rights groups suggest that sub-weapons, or parts manufactured by the U.K. and France, ended up in the hands of RSF fighters via the UAE. And even though there's a U.N. arms embargo on Sudan, there's none on the UAE. The UAE is a very, very important buyer of Western arms, and beggars can't be choosers. So if you want these investments from the UAE, you need to kind of keep the UAE on site. Then there's the issue of energy security. Not only is the UAE one of the world's biggest oil exporters with leverage over the oil markets, it's also investing billions in developing renewable energy. It's launched trade talks with the EU this year and aims to export green hydrogen. Energy interdependence between Europe and the Gulf is deepening, especially as Europe is kind of pivoting away from Russia. The West also sees the UAE as an important security partner in the region. Since the Arab Spring, we've seen the Europeans and also the Americans gradually withdrawing from the Middle East and delegating that sort of security provision to local partners. And one of these local partners is the UAE. In 2024, the U.S. designated the UAE as a major defense partner, the only country with such recognition after India. This year, the U.S. has sold defense weapons to the UAE worth billions of dollars. The UAE hosts Jebel Ali port in Dubai, which is the U.S. Navy's largest port of call in the Middle East. Washington has been very vocal in their praise of the UAE and the alignment of U.S. national security interests with the UAE. Those ties could make any peacemaking efforts by President Trump and the UAE's Western allies more complicated, and could make stemming the flow of weapons to the RSF more difficult.

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